Family Robbed While Asking For Directions

DAYTONA BEACH — A vacationing Michigan family was robbed of $7,600 of jewelry early Tuesday after stopping to ask directions to their Daytona Beach Shores hotel, police said.

When they stopped about 12:30 a.m. to ask directions from a group of people at Campbell Street and Bellevue Avenue, two men approached the driver's side of the rented Cadillac. One man pulled out a knife with a 3-inch blade and ordered driver Raja Swidan, 36, to turn over his diamond-studded gold wristwatch, valued at $6,000. The robber took the watch and yanked a $500 gold chain from Swidan's neck, Officer R. T. Barrett said.

The robber walked to the passenger side, smashed the knife handle on the windshield and demanded two gold rings that Swidan's children, ages 6 and 4, were wearing, police said. The blow caused about $300 damage to the car but no one was injured.

The rings, valued at $550 each, were handed over to the robber.

The second man, who still was standing on the driver's side of the car, told Swidan that his friend had a weapon. Police said the family never saw a gun.

After the robber took the jewelry, both men fled.

Swidan, a gas station owner from Riverview, Mich., drove to a nearby convenience store and called police. They searched the area but did not find the men, described as black males with short hair, ages 25 to 30.

The knife-wielding suspect was about 6-foot-2 and 165 pounds. He wore a red pullover with cutoff sleeves and Arabic letters on the front, a white cap and light-colored pants.

His companion was about 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds, wearing a blue short- sleeved shirt and dark pants.